All Forum Posts by: Lien Vuong

I think the $45/unit fee is very reasonable and glad that they've been working out for you thus far outside of this 5% fee. You're correct in understand that typically that % PM fee is for ongoing projects. I think you should propose to pay an hourly rate for a PM staff member to get quotes as they're connected to the scope and will not disrupt the line of communication for the PM company. Given our labor environment, you should expect to pay $35-50/hour for this admin and once the project/vendor is selected thats when the 5% would kick in. 

Theres a few options you can do as a buyer - obtain a private money loan so that a working septic system is not required at closing (their assumption is that you will repair post closing), get a traditional mortgage with a construction portion to address the failed septic, or as the sellers to escrow in funds to be able to replace it. I've done #1 and 3 in assisting clients and it's completely fine to execute. 

Cost wise, depending on the scope and size of the system its a range of $20-75k and shouldn't be more than a few weeks to install assuming you are in right climate outside of winter. 

Congrats on that first live in flip deal and I'm sure you've learned a lot. Hopefully 2025 is your year to expand your investing journey and tackle the next project! Thanks for sharing your story. 

Yes it is absolutely breaking the rules and given the fact that it is diminishing the unit condition and your quality of life I would consider retaining counsel to figure out to terminate the lease early. I dont think you have to be hard on yourself on not having done enough homework to have prescreened this person, people are good at masking this stuff. 

This is all part of the landlord experience!

Welcome back and thanks for sharing your thoughts and goals for the year! Feel free to PM me, would love to connect with a fellow investor/agent in the Boston area. 

With the inventory constraints there's still quite a bit of competition out there but keep persevering, you'll get it soon enough! Just getting out there is half the battle!

Thats fine as long as your Debt to Income (DTI) supports it. When talking about loans, your lender really just cares about your ratios. Even if you made $200k and your rotating debt is $150k annually, it wont get you qualified. When it comes to multis, you'll also be able to add in your tenants rents as qualifying income on the property which helps tremendously. I would engage with a lender to see what your situation looks like and if you're in the right path. They might have ideas for credit improvements, debt pay downs, etc to help you get there in 2 years time.

Best of luck!

Congrats! Thats an excellent area and so excited for you to get started in your RE journey. Keep us posted on the closing and how the stabilization goes with the building. 

Hello and welcome! 

Those two areas are very different zip codes and price points for house hacking, what made you select the two? 

 Sure thing! Will DM you